6 Houston area cyclists injured by pranking truck driver
#76
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"Some people say" quite different things; read the comments from "some people" who post idiotic negative crap about stereotypes on various news media and social media sites after just those kind of incidents.
I doubt anyone here would be mollified if "some people" posted those kind of offensive remarks here, knowing the remarks were offensive but thought they would be acceptable if prefaced with an apologies provisio in advance to anyone offended.
Maybe liking suggestions about lynching is considered acceptable here if the victim is not protected by the A&S Conventional Wisdom.
I doubt anyone here would be mollified if "some people" posted those kind of offensive remarks here, knowing the remarks were offensive but thought they would be acceptable if prefaced with an apologies provisio in advance to anyone offended.
Maybe liking suggestions about lynching is considered acceptable here if the victim is not protected by the A&S Conventional Wisdom.
I'm sure the historically oppressed group of Texas sheriffs is quite grateful that you've taken up their cause.
You know you're putting on an absurd repetitive tirade about nothing, right?
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I’ll bet in the end, the kid would be better off if he had been arrested at the scene, admitted his guilt to the judge, and showed genuine remorse. But now it looks like the legal system is becoming fully jacked up, and both sides are arming for a bear hunt. Defense will have a PR campaign demonizing cyclists, especially groups on the highway. They just need 1 juror to say “not guilty”. The kid’s family was going to loose all their money in the civil suits, now it goes to the Defense Team instead. Murica.
#78
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There are real people involved in this. Real people with families and friends were injured. The LEO and EMT who responded are real people. The city and county officials involved are real people.
Imperfect as it is, we have a legal system which will deal with those mistakes, and the result will not satisfy everyone.
Some of those real people will come away changed for the better and others won’t.
At the end of it all this has and will damage many lives.
My prayer when I get on the road is that no one gets hurt on my trip.
Imperfect as it is, we have a legal system which will deal with those mistakes, and the result will not satisfy everyone.
Some of those real people will come away changed for the better and others won’t.
At the end of it all this has and will damage many lives.
My prayer when I get on the road is that no one gets hurt on my trip.
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#79
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There are real people involved in this. Real people with families and friends were injured. The LEO and EMT who responded are real people. The city and county officials involved are real people.
Imperfect as it is, we have a legal system which will deal with those mistakes, and the result will not satisfy everyone.
Some of those real people will come away changed for the better and others won’t.
At the end of it all this has and will damage many lives.
My prayer when I get on the road is that no one gets hurt on my trip.
Imperfect as it is, we have a legal system which will deal with those mistakes, and the result will not satisfy everyone.
Some of those real people will come away changed for the better and others won’t.
At the end of it all this has and will damage many lives.
My prayer when I get on the road is that no one gets hurt on my trip.
#80
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This malicious act turning into a blood bath is all to common. The thing that irritates me and some others is we hear and read about these incidents and seldom se justice for the injured parties. If like me you have been on the receiving end of some bullies pickup truck than some of these incidents can become personal. What transpires at the seen of a collision by law enforcement is colored by there personal beliefs. Many times I have seen pedestrians and bicyclists have their rights ignored by law enforcement. The boy put those people in danger and injured them, forever changing their lives. I would like it if he suffered the same injuries that he caused.
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This will be a tough case to defend. But, the only defense will be to try to minimize the "Rolling Coal", and instead claim that he was just accelerating to pass. And, the difficulty for a young driver to pass a large group of cyclists caused the accident.
Was there a reason why the group that were hit weren't seen?
A lot of what I'm reading is from the viewpoint of the cyclists, but there may well be a different viewpoint of the driver.
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I have my CDL. One of the things they teach you when you get your license is how many blind spots you have around the vehicle. Near the rear wheels on the driver's & passenger side, most of the passenger side, directly behind the vehicle, and directly in front of the vehicle for about 20ft. What most of these idiots that drive lifted pickups don't realize is that they have the same blind spots. My guess is as he approached he saw them and decided to get closer to maximize the effect of the smoke, the cyclists got in his blind spot so he kept moving closer thinking they must be further away since he couldn't see them, then hit them having never seen how close they actually were.
I have my CDL because I develop advanced systems on medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Occasionally we take them on the public roads, which is why I need the license. We put a camera system around the vehicle that places cameras in the blind spots and displays them on an in-cab display. We do it mostly to show off our display's capability to show video, but it is extremely useful when we drive on public roads. We ended up putting the same system in our recover truck, a stock Ford F-350 Super Duty, after it was involved in 3 accidents in about an 18 month period. What shocked most of the techs that normally drive the vehicle is that we needed 5 cameras to fill in the blind spots around the vehicle. But we haven't had an accident with the vehicle since installing it.
This kid never saw the cyclists he hit, and likely doesn't have the experience or training to know that he was operating it MUCH more dangerously than he thought he was.
Last edited by RGMN; 10-02-21 at 10:58 AM.
#83
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What most of these idiots that drive lifted pickups don't realize is that they have the same blind spots. My guess is as he approached he saw them and decided to get closer to maximize the effect of the smoke, the cyclists got in his blind spot so he kept moving closer thinking they must be further away since he couldn't see them, then hit them having never seen how close they actually were.
The pickup looks like it has stock road tires, and doesn't look particularly lifted.
A stock 4x4 will be slightly taller than a stock 2x4. A F250 will also have a higher hood than a F150. The hat collection won't help, but may primarily obscure the hood, and not the road.
While it is easy for a bike to vanish into a blind spot to the right of the vehicle, one would have to be mighty close for a bike to disappear into a blind spot in front of the vehicle.
One possibility is that the kid was doing the "rolling coal", and was watching in the mirror to see the reactions of the cyclists he just passed without looking forward.
The largest blind spot may be following a lead vehicle too closely, and not paying attention to that vehicle's evasive movements.
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#84
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The pickup looks like it has stock road tires, and doesn't look particularly lifted.
A stock 4x4 will be slightly taller than a stock 2x4. A F250 will also have a higher hood than a F150. The hat collection won't help, but may primarily obscure the hood, and not the road.
While it is easy for a bike to vanish into a blind spot to the right of the vehicle, one would have to be mighty close for a bike to disappear into a blind spot in front of the vehicle.
One possibility is that the kid was doing the "rolling coal", and was watching in the mirror to see the reactions of the cyclists he just passed without looking forward.
The largest blind spot may be following a lead vehicle too closely, and not paying attention to that vehicle's evasive movements.
One of the news reports says this was one of several coal rolling passes performed by this driver as he passed cyclists. If true, that's going to be a lot of witnesses blowing up his " I didn't see them" defense.
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More than likely the driver didn't see them because they were in his blind spots.
The damage to the vehicle appears to be the front end. Unless the kid was blind I don't believe they were in a blind spot.
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#86
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Nothing new on this as of today. I guess the authorities are hoping it will just go away.
We can't let this go.
We can't let this go.
#87
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With nothing new on the subject, "we" can always keep guessing/speculating about the wicked intentions of the authorities and imagine that that is some form of bicycling advocacy.
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#89
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Lots of vehicles, like school buses have blind spots on the front. That being said, when your vehicle is approaching a bunch of cyclists, blind spot or not, you know they are there.
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#90
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Having driven the modern iteration of the F-250, I don't buy the blind spot excuse. Plus, a cyclist's head is usually at the same eye level as someone driving a pickup, so you'd have to be dumb or have glaucoma to not see one.
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Note that no one on this list or apparently anywhere else is even imagining blind spot visibility might have been an issue, let alone an excuse for this incident except for one poster involved with a company that markets devices to mitigate that problem for much larger vehicles.
#92
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Charlie Thomas is right here in New Orleans. He's fairly regular on a bike advocacy Facebook group that I belong to. He's the right guy to represent the cyclists.
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You wouldn't expect him/her to change after all these years would you. I-Like-To-Go-On-Tirades.
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Anybody local enough to have some updates on the riders?
We've been focusing on the driver so much. But, we know very little about the victims.
We've been focusing on the driver so much. But, we know very little about the victims.
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Waller County Judge Trey Duhon posted the following on the Waller County (Official) Facebook page on September 30. Many of you may remember a few years ago when Waller County cracked down and started issuing tickets to bicycle riders who ran stop signs and other violations. He met with members of the MS150 Steering Committee and representatives of other organized rides and bicycling groups. I attended the meeting as part of the MS150 contingent. He was friendly, non-confrontational, and genuinely worked with us reach a solution. I see no reason to doubt his sincerity on the current matter.
From County Judge Trey Duhon:
I just got off the phone with Linda Bates. Linda is the current President of the South Central Chapter of the National MS Society, which oversees and organizes the MS150. We are going to work together to organize another Cycling Summit meeting in Waller County between my office, Sheriff Troy Guidry, some folks with MS150, and bike ride presidents and cycling group leadership individuals from the Houston area.
We hope to have this meeting scheduled in the coming weeks to have a discussion on continuing our efforts to improve safety in Waller County for cyclists and motorists, including education and outreach, working together with TXDOT to bring more shoulders and bike lanes to Waller County, and re-establishing lines of communication between the various bike rides and Waller County through the WCSO, so we can keep people apprised of organized rides and routes as they occur during the year. I spoke to Sheriff Troy Guidry today and he is more than ready to engage and meet with the MS150 and bike ride organizers as well.
If there are any bike groups or bike ride organizers that would like to be a part of that meeting, please email my office at t.duhon@wallercounty.us and we will make sure to include you when it is scheduled.
On another note - it has come to our attention that there may be some individuals or groups of cyclists that may be looking to come out to Waller County to make a statement or to cause issues and/or antagonize motorists... This is unfortunate, but I have seen some posts myself on some Houston FB cycling/bike pages that seem to point to this as well. Please keep in mind that this is not representative of the cycling community in Houston and these are not part of any organized rides (just like this past weekend's incident is not representative of Waller County), but there's always the possibility that some folks may look to cause trouble or to make a point.
I want to take this opportunity to strongly encourage everyone to welcome any cyclist that comes to our community. Be courteous. Wave hello. Offer them a water. Follow the rules of the road. Remember that bikes have the right (whether you like it or not) to be on the road, regardless of whether there is a shoulder or not. Do not let anyone antagonize or cause you to lose your cool. Remember - you can not control others. You can only control how you react to them. Choose not to react. Smile and be friendly. Take a different route if you can.
Below are some tips for when you encounter a cyclist or group of cyclists on a Waller County road. And before some of you inevitably criticize me for being “pro-cyclist”, please keep in mind that the advice that is being given is in the vein of giving people options in terms of reacting to bicyclists rather than losing one’s temper…. I’m not saying that everyone who encounters a cyclist should find another route…. (Keeping in mind that for organized rides - avoiding certain areas probably works best if you need be somewhere).
The advice being given is about being pro-safety…. I was on the scene in Pattison several years ago when those cyclists were run over and killed. I will never get those images out of my mind…. I don’t not want to ever see that happen in Waller County again…. There’s alot of work to be done to help change this situation on both sides…. But until then I want everyone to take a deep breath, and be safe.
1) Always be on the look out for cyclists.
2) Bicycles are entitled to ride in the lane of traffic.
Bicyclists are required by law to follow the same traffic laws as vehicles; however, they are also permitted to ride in the lane of travel. This means that they may travel in the same lane as you – in front of you, even if they are travelling slower than you. Most cyclists prefer to ride on the shoulder, however, road conditions sometimes make that impossible or extremely unsafe. If there is a cyclist on the road in front of you, chances are that they will return to the shoulder as soon as it is safe to do so. Just be patient.
3) If you pass a cyclist, do so safely.
If you insist on passing a cyclist, do it safely. Get as far away from the cyclist as possible and leave plenty of distance in front of them before you return to your lane. Wide mirrors or things hanging off your vehicle can make contact with a cyclist and cause serious injury or death, even if your car doesn’t hit them. A good rule of thumb is to “give them three feet” (i.e. always leave at least three feet between the outside edge of your car and the bike you are passing).
4) NEVER harass cyclists.
This can include honking, yelling, cursing and threatening. There is simply no reason whatsoever to initiate any type of road rage whether it is against another car driver or a cyclist. There isn’t anywhere you need to be soon enough that justifies uncivil behavior. AGGRESSIVE DRIVING towards a cyclist will not be tolerated. Period.
5) Pay attention to your surroundings.
This rule applies, regardless of when and where you are driving. You have a legal duty “to see what is there to be seen,” which means you need to be looking! Distractions such as texting, talking on the phone, eating, putting on makeup, reading and talking to people in your vehicle reduce the amount of attention you are paying to your surroundings and the approaching hazards. “I didn’t see you” is never an excuse when you hit someone.
6) Be careful when backing up or opening your car door.
Before backing your car, look in the rear view mirror, side mirror and through your windows to see if cyclists are approaching. Back up slowly so that they will have time to react if they approach after you have looked for them. Before opening your car door after parallel parking, look to your left to see if cyclists are approaching on the road. Opening your car door in front of a cyclist is a violation of the law.
7) Look Left and Right before pulling out onto a road.
Some drivers get so focused on pulling out onto a roadway, especially if the traffic is heavy, that they focus only on finding that one gap in traffic that they call pull into. As a result, although they may look toward the direction of where they are turning, they fail to look the other direction. There may be a cyclist approaching, but the motorist is so focused on finding a gap that they don’t see them. As a result, many cyclists have been injured by cars pulling out into traffic, when they could have easily seen them, if only they had looked.
😎 Yield to cyclists – even if you don’t have to.
Sometimes, cars and cyclists approach intersections at nearly the same time, or cars approach a path where a cyclist is crossing a road. If it is safe for you to do so, yield to the cyclist and let them cross. Many cyclists wear special shoes that clip into their pedals. This allows them to ride more efficiently, but also makes it more difficult for them to stop suddenly without falling. Some cyclists may run a stop sign... It's better to anticipate and give them right of way (even when you are not required) than to live with the fact that somebody lost their life in a collision with your vehicle.
I hope this helps!! Let's show the Houston cycling community the reason why everyone is leaving Houston and coming out to Waller County... because we have some of the nicest and friendliest people in the state.
From County Judge Trey Duhon:
I just got off the phone with Linda Bates. Linda is the current President of the South Central Chapter of the National MS Society, which oversees and organizes the MS150. We are going to work together to organize another Cycling Summit meeting in Waller County between my office, Sheriff Troy Guidry, some folks with MS150, and bike ride presidents and cycling group leadership individuals from the Houston area.
We hope to have this meeting scheduled in the coming weeks to have a discussion on continuing our efforts to improve safety in Waller County for cyclists and motorists, including education and outreach, working together with TXDOT to bring more shoulders and bike lanes to Waller County, and re-establishing lines of communication between the various bike rides and Waller County through the WCSO, so we can keep people apprised of organized rides and routes as they occur during the year. I spoke to Sheriff Troy Guidry today and he is more than ready to engage and meet with the MS150 and bike ride organizers as well.
If there are any bike groups or bike ride organizers that would like to be a part of that meeting, please email my office at t.duhon@wallercounty.us and we will make sure to include you when it is scheduled.
On another note - it has come to our attention that there may be some individuals or groups of cyclists that may be looking to come out to Waller County to make a statement or to cause issues and/or antagonize motorists... This is unfortunate, but I have seen some posts myself on some Houston FB cycling/bike pages that seem to point to this as well. Please keep in mind that this is not representative of the cycling community in Houston and these are not part of any organized rides (just like this past weekend's incident is not representative of Waller County), but there's always the possibility that some folks may look to cause trouble or to make a point.
I want to take this opportunity to strongly encourage everyone to welcome any cyclist that comes to our community. Be courteous. Wave hello. Offer them a water. Follow the rules of the road. Remember that bikes have the right (whether you like it or not) to be on the road, regardless of whether there is a shoulder or not. Do not let anyone antagonize or cause you to lose your cool. Remember - you can not control others. You can only control how you react to them. Choose not to react. Smile and be friendly. Take a different route if you can.
Below are some tips for when you encounter a cyclist or group of cyclists on a Waller County road. And before some of you inevitably criticize me for being “pro-cyclist”, please keep in mind that the advice that is being given is in the vein of giving people options in terms of reacting to bicyclists rather than losing one’s temper…. I’m not saying that everyone who encounters a cyclist should find another route…. (Keeping in mind that for organized rides - avoiding certain areas probably works best if you need be somewhere).
The advice being given is about being pro-safety…. I was on the scene in Pattison several years ago when those cyclists were run over and killed. I will never get those images out of my mind…. I don’t not want to ever see that happen in Waller County again…. There’s alot of work to be done to help change this situation on both sides…. But until then I want everyone to take a deep breath, and be safe.
1) Always be on the look out for cyclists.
2) Bicycles are entitled to ride in the lane of traffic.
Bicyclists are required by law to follow the same traffic laws as vehicles; however, they are also permitted to ride in the lane of travel. This means that they may travel in the same lane as you – in front of you, even if they are travelling slower than you. Most cyclists prefer to ride on the shoulder, however, road conditions sometimes make that impossible or extremely unsafe. If there is a cyclist on the road in front of you, chances are that they will return to the shoulder as soon as it is safe to do so. Just be patient.
3) If you pass a cyclist, do so safely.
If you insist on passing a cyclist, do it safely. Get as far away from the cyclist as possible and leave plenty of distance in front of them before you return to your lane. Wide mirrors or things hanging off your vehicle can make contact with a cyclist and cause serious injury or death, even if your car doesn’t hit them. A good rule of thumb is to “give them three feet” (i.e. always leave at least three feet between the outside edge of your car and the bike you are passing).
4) NEVER harass cyclists.
This can include honking, yelling, cursing and threatening. There is simply no reason whatsoever to initiate any type of road rage whether it is against another car driver or a cyclist. There isn’t anywhere you need to be soon enough that justifies uncivil behavior. AGGRESSIVE DRIVING towards a cyclist will not be tolerated. Period.
5) Pay attention to your surroundings.
This rule applies, regardless of when and where you are driving. You have a legal duty “to see what is there to be seen,” which means you need to be looking! Distractions such as texting, talking on the phone, eating, putting on makeup, reading and talking to people in your vehicle reduce the amount of attention you are paying to your surroundings and the approaching hazards. “I didn’t see you” is never an excuse when you hit someone.
6) Be careful when backing up or opening your car door.
Before backing your car, look in the rear view mirror, side mirror and through your windows to see if cyclists are approaching. Back up slowly so that they will have time to react if they approach after you have looked for them. Before opening your car door after parallel parking, look to your left to see if cyclists are approaching on the road. Opening your car door in front of a cyclist is a violation of the law.
7) Look Left and Right before pulling out onto a road.
Some drivers get so focused on pulling out onto a roadway, especially if the traffic is heavy, that they focus only on finding that one gap in traffic that they call pull into. As a result, although they may look toward the direction of where they are turning, they fail to look the other direction. There may be a cyclist approaching, but the motorist is so focused on finding a gap that they don’t see them. As a result, many cyclists have been injured by cars pulling out into traffic, when they could have easily seen them, if only they had looked.
😎 Yield to cyclists – even if you don’t have to.
Sometimes, cars and cyclists approach intersections at nearly the same time, or cars approach a path where a cyclist is crossing a road. If it is safe for you to do so, yield to the cyclist and let them cross. Many cyclists wear special shoes that clip into their pedals. This allows them to ride more efficiently, but also makes it more difficult for them to stop suddenly without falling. Some cyclists may run a stop sign... It's better to anticipate and give them right of way (even when you are not required) than to live with the fact that somebody lost their life in a collision with your vehicle.
I hope this helps!! Let's show the Houston cycling community the reason why everyone is leaving Houston and coming out to Waller County... because we have some of the nicest and friendliest people in the state.
#99
Senior Member
Nice post by the county judge. It should be published in local and community newspapers as well as distributed when drivers renew their licences and plates.
Seems so obvious but a lot of his points were taught in driving school.
Seems so obvious but a lot of his points were taught in driving school.
Last edited by Daniel4; 10-06-21 at 11:43 AM.
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#100
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It IS a nice post, but "And before some of you inevitably criticize me for being “pro-cyclist”..." raised an eyebrow. Is that such a bad thing that he needs to preemptively distance himself?
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